Jack Della Maddalena explains why he’s not fighting Kevin Holland at UFC 290

Jack Della Maddalena saw the public callouts from veterans like Kevin Holland and Joaquin Buckley once his scheduled UFC 290 bout against Sean Brady fell through.

So why is he is fighting UFC newcomer Josiah Harrell on Saturday instead?

According to Maddalena, it was the only official offer to come his way.

“They were names that were flying around and I was pretty keen, I was pretty keen to fight anyone really,” Maddalena explained this week on The MMA Hour. “I’ve come this far so I was ready to go, and yeah, those names sounded cool. There was also Chris Curtis that was there, and it was never actually offered to me. I just saw the names saying that they would step up, so it sounded good to me, and I thought possibly it might be at a heavier weight so I started eating a little bit more, but none of them actually came to fruition.”

Maddalena, 26, is generally regarded as one of the most promising up-and-coming talents in the UFC’s 170-pound division. The native Australian is a perfect 4-0 with four first-round stoppages in the octagon, the last three of which have earned him post-fight bonuses. Maddalena smoked Randy Brown in less than three minutes in his most recent outing.

Holland’s callout garnered the most attention, as “Trailblazer” offered to step into a short-notice bout against Maddalena at UFC 290 while still wanting to stay in his scheduled welterweight matchup against Michael Chiesa on July 29 at UFC 291. After the UFC opted to go in a different direction, Holland implied that Maddalena was the reason the bout failed to come together. Maddalena disputes that claim, but he’s also not stressing over it.

“It doesn’t really annoy me,” Maddalena said. “I was excited for that fight. I think that would have been a cool fight, and yeah, it would have been at a heavy weight so it would’ve made the cut easier. But yeah, I was excited for that, but it just never was — it was honestly never an option. There was talk on, yeah, I saw on his Instagram, but it was never actually an option. I did ask [my manager] Tim [Simpson], ‘Is the Holland fight on?’ — and yeah, I don’t know, I think he had a fight booked so they weren’t into it. But I thought that was a realistic option, but it was just never actually passed on to me.

“I would have done it at 185, to be honest,” Maddalena added. “I was ready to go. I just keen to fight. Honestly, I’ve put in a lot of work over the years and I need to get paid, and it’s a cool fight, I think it would’ve been a cool fight for the fans. But yeah, it just never materialized. But hopefully down the track we can make it happen.”

In Harrell, Maddalena instead faces a relatively unknown prospect whose biggest claim to fame is as the star of June’s viral clip of his takedown of Mike Roberts at LFA 160. Early in the third round of the contest, Harrell and Roberts toppled out of the cage after Harrell’s double-leg takedown caused the fence door to dislodge itself and swing open mid-fight.

“Up to that point [of signing the UFC 290 contract], I’d never heard of him,” Maddalena said of Harrell. “I do remember seeing the video of him tackling someone out of the cage, but yeah, I never knew, I’d never put the name to that video. I was just happy to get a name, to be honest, whoever it was. I’ve come this far, I was keen to fight, whoever it is.”

“I would’ve liked a bigger name if I had the option,” Maddalena added. “If there was a realistic option out of the three, I definitely would’ve taken one of the other two right over Josiah just for the fans’ sake and the better fight. But yeah, it was never an option, and it is what it is. It’s the same goal, I’m here to fight, I’m here to win and move on.”

The stakes for UFC 290 now shift for Maddalena. While his original matchup against could’ve pushed Maddalena to the precipice of title contention, his new fight against Harrell is essentially just one to keep him busy. That’s why Maddalena hopes the Brady matchup is still on the table after the American recovers from a bout of Streptococcus B in his elbow.

“I thought it was great fight,” Maddalena said of Brady. “I thought it was a good challenge, and yeah, it was a top 10 [opponent]. It was a cool fight. I really wanted to solidify myself as a top-10 fighter and that was the opportunity, but I don’t think it was meant to be. But I feel like hopefully this is just a speed bump, and hopefully that fight just gets delayed 10 weeks, and possibly we can do it in Sydney in September [at UFC 293].”